Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. Makes New $4.87 Million Investment in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)

Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 17,200 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,868,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 68,644 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $19,426,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 36.4% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,826 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $35,893,000 after buying an additional 33,864 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 498.5% in the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,057 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,431,000 after buying an additional 4,212 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Progressive in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,141,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Progressive by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 93,463 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,451,000 after buying an additional 13,231 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,490 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.67, for a total value of $691,398.30. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,451,160.43. This trade represents a 16.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO John P. Sauerland sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.37, for a total value of $2,753,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 238,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,544,668.88. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,705 shares of company stock worth $11,450,948 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Progressive from $327.00 to $319.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Progressive from $285.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Progressive from $267.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America raised Progressive from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $312.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Progressive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Progressive has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.94.

Progressive Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PGR traded down $2.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $251.39. 4,960,466 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,798,133. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $273.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $265.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.95, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The Progressive Corporation has a one year low of $207.50 and a one year high of $292.99.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $22.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.87 billion. Progressive had a return on equity of 33.50% and a net margin of 11.10%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Progressive Corporation will post 14.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a dividend yield of 0.15%. Progressive's payout ratio is 2.70%.

Progressive Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.